Wed, Oct 25, 2006
Pres. Reagan Said They Could Never Work Again
They were told they would never work in their chosen field
again, but hundreds of air traffic controllers, fired by President
Ronald Reagan 25 years ago, are quietly being rehired.
In 1981, controllers represented by the Professional Air Traffic
Controllers Organization (PATCO), walked out on strike to protest
poor working conditions. The president threatened to fire them,
since he considered the strike illegal, and said they would stay
fired. PATCO gambled that with so many controllers
not working the nation's airspace, they could force
the president to make a deal.
They lost that gamble, and Reagan made good on his threat to
make the firings permanent.
PATCO, representing the fired controllers, never stopped working
for them and now it may be finally reaping the benefits. Newer
controllers are generally now represented by NATCA (National Air
Traffic Contollers Association) and PATCO controllers have the
option of joining the newer union.
Despite the mandatory retirement age of 56 for current
controllers, the former PATCO members are not subject to that rule
because of previous agreements and most are now well over 60.
About 500 have received offers of employment from the FAA, but
if they want to start telling airplanes where to go, they'll have
to undergo extensive retraining.
The good news is, considering the FAA's reputation for not
updating its equipment, the returning air traffic controllers will
probably be very familiar with the consoles they left
behind a quarter century ago.
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